Which Districts of the Court of Appeal Average the Most Votes to Affirm in Civil Cases (Part 1)

Last week, we completed our analysis of the reversal rates of each District and Division of the Court of Appeal. Today, we begin our analysis of a related question: which Districts and Divisions have averaged the most votes to affirm the Court of Appeal’s decision each year? Obviously, there’s a big difference between Districts which were routinely affirmed by a unanimous or near-unanimous Court, and Districts with an average votes-to-affirm of 3.6.

In Table 104 below, we report the three-year floating averages of votes to affirm, District by District. Division One of the First District was right around the same level throughout the period – in 2002, it averaged 4.43 votes to affirm; in 2003, it averaged 4.57; the next year, it averaged 4.88; in 2005, it averaged 5.29 votes; in 2006, the court averaged 6 votes to affirm; and in 2007, the court averaged 2.83 votes to affirm. Division Two of the First District, on the other hand, was much more variable. Division Two averaged 4.5 votes to affirm in 2003 and 4.8 in 2004. The court averaged 3.3 in 2005, 1.6 in 2006 and 0.8 votes to affirm in 2007. Division Three of the First District averaged 5.25 votes to affirm in 2002 and 2003. The court averaged 2.33 votes in 2006 and 3.6 in 2007. Division Four of the First District was consistently under the statewide average – 1.33 votes to affirm in 2002; 2.71 in 2003, 2.38 in 2004 and 2.67 in 2005, and 1.2 votes in 2006 and 1.5 votes to affirm in 2007. The Fifth Division was under the statewide average for the first half of the period – 2.33 in 2002, 1.8 in 2003, 1.86 in 2004, followed by 3.22 votes in 2005, 4.18 in 2006 and 4.5 in 2007.

For the most part, Division One of the Second District was below the statewide average. That court averaged 2.36 votes to affirm in 2002, 1.13 in 2003, 1.75 in 2004, 2.43 in 2005, 3.29 in 2006 and 1.8 in 2007. Division Two of the Second District was, for the most part, over the statewide average, at 3.75 votes in 2002 and 2003, 4 votes in 2004, 2.5 votes in 2005, 2 votes in 2006 and 2.29 votes in 2007. Division Three of the Second District was right around the statewide average – 2.92 votes in 2002, 3.1 in 2003, 3.2 in 2004, 4 votes in 2005, 4.18 votes in 2006 and 3.1 votes in 2007. Division Four of the Second District has been consistently below the statewide vote average. In 2002, the court averaged 1.7 votes. In 2003, the court averaged 1.22 votes; in 2004, it averaged 2.11, and in 2005, the court averaged 2.22 votes. In 2006, the court averaged 3 votes to affirm. Finally, in 2007, the court averaged 3.63 votes to affirm. Division Five of the Second District consistently performed well – 3.2 votes to affirm in 2003, 3.86 in 2004 and 2005, 3.25 votes in 2006 and 2.07 in 2007. Division Six consistently declined from 2004 to 2007 – four votes to affirm in 2004, 3.5 in 2005, 1.5 in 2006 and 2 votes in 2007. Division Seven of the Second District was repeatedly below the statewide average. The court was below two votes to affirm from 2002 through 2005 – 1.71 in 2002, 1.5 in 2003, 0.55 in 2004 and 1.38 in 2005. In 2006, the court averaged two votes to affirm. The next year, the court averaged 3.8 votes to affirm.

The Third District consistently ranked below the statewide average during these years – 1.67 votes to affirm in 2002, 1.6 in 2003, 2.15 in 2004, 1.67 in 2005, 1.64 in 2006 and 2.44 votes in 2007. The First Division of the Fourth District, on the other hand, fared quite well at the Court during this period – 4.11 votes in 2002, 4 in 2003, 4.82 votes in 2004, 4.18 in 2005, 4.6 votes in 2006 and 3.4 in 2007. Division Two of the Fourth District was above the average for the first half of the period, but below afterwards. For 2002, Division Two averaged 4.45 votes. In 2003, the court averaged 4.86, and in 2004, the court averaged 5.25. In 2005, the court averaged 3.77 votes. The next year, the court averaged 3.5 votes, and in 2007, the court averaged 3.46 votes.

Division Three of the Fourth District was generally below the statewide average – 2.8 votes in 2002, 2.33 in 2003, 2.78 in 2004, 2.13 in 2005, 2.83 in 2006 and 3 votes in 2007. The Fifth District was only slightly higher, averaging 2.67 votes in 2002 and 2.86 in 2003; four votes in 2004, 3.89 in 2005, 3.11 in 2006 and 2.89 votes in 2007.

The Sixth District had a comparatively rough time during these years. The court averaged 2.83 votes to affirm in 2002, 1 vote in 2003 and 2004, 0.57 votes in 2005, 1 vote in 2006 and two votes in 2007.

Join us back here tomorrow as we turn our attention to the Court’s three-year floating average reversal rates on the criminal side between 2002 and 2007.

About this Blog

In the next few years, data analytics will revolutionize litigation. At the California Supreme Court Review, we’ve mined dozens of data points from every one of the more than 3,000 decisions handed down by the California Supreme Court from 1990 through 2017. We use that unique database to share new insights culled from tens of thousands of pages of opinions about the Justices and their decision-making process, the parties and issues which come before the Court.